Thunder Bay City Council approves Miles Street East as shelter village site

Thunder Bay City Council has given its approval to Miles Street East as the location for the city's proposed temporary shelter village.

City administration recommended the site at Monday's council meeting.

The decision is still subject to a ratification vote, which will take place at the July 21 council meeting.

If the decision is ratified and the project moves ahead, the Miles Street site would hold 80 sleeping cabins for use by the city's unhoused population.

McKellar Ward Coun. Brian Hamilton — the Miles Street location is in the McKellar Ward — described Monday's debate as "passionate."

"This is probably one of the hottest topics that we've looked at, certainly in my two terms on council," Hamilton said in an interview on CBC Superior Morning on Tuesday. "But we're all trying to achieve the same thing."

"Ultimately we are really looking at two things," he said. "Taking care of the unhoused population and making sure we can move the dial and help people move their lives forward. And then where when it comes to site selection, are you really supporting the neighborhood that it's going to be in in as well?"

"The integration piece is absolutely critical."

The vote was six to five in favour.

Hamilton, and councillors Shelby Ch'ng, Andrew Foulds, Greg Johnsen, Kristen Oliver, and Kasey Etreni voted in favour.

Councillors Rajni Agarwal, Albert Aiello, Mark Bentz, Trevor Giertuga, and Dominic Pasqualino voted against.

Mayor Ken Boshcoff and Coun. Michael Zussino were absent.

Monday was the second time councillors considered 114 Miles St. E. as the site for the village. It was previously voted down in the fall.

Hamilton, at the time, did not support the Miles Street site over concerns about the size.

"I didn't think we could put 100 units there," he said. "We have since bought property next door to it. The number has gone down to what I think is a manageable 80 units, and the approach has changed.

"Now we are going to start with the 30 to 40 units, and we're going to expand and scale that as operational capacity allows," Hamilton said. "This project has to be evidence and data supported and like I said, it's got to be success-driven."

Council has considered several potential locations for the village, including a lot on North Cumberland Street beside the Journey to Life Centre, and a spot along Fort William Road, across from the CLE grounds (that property is owned by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority).

Eventually, councillors approved Kam River Heritage Park as the village's location. However, that decision was later rescinded over safety concerns: the park is bordered by the Kaministiquia River on one side and a rail yard on the other.

That led administration to recommending Miles Street for the second time.

The city has said Miles Street was a preferred choice for a number of reasons, including its proximity to transit and support services, its accessibility by emergency services, and its readiness for construction.

That latter point is important, as the city has said building the village on Miles Street would cost between $4 million and $4.5 million (they've also budgeted $1.5 million a year for operating costs).

However, if the city meets certain timelines — a recent city news release states at least 40 units would need to be ready by Dec. 15, and the remaining units by Feb. 27, 2026 — it's eligible for $2.8 million in provincial funding.

Hamilton said the extra funding isn't the only reason for the sense of urgency, however.

"We have to get boots on the ground and we've got to get shovels in the ground on this project soon if we really wanted to be impactful," he said. "This project is supposed to be temporary. It's going to be five years, and we've got to get some of that time behind us and move forward."

"We have other housing, we have other initiatives, we have a whole bunch of other work that we'd like to get get into," he said. "So it's my hope that we could get this project under our feet and and move on to some of the other important things that the public expects us to do."

MP opposed to site

The city has said the village will be fenced, and have security and support staff on-site 24 hours a day.

The project has its opposition beyond the city councillors who voted against it, however.

In an interview last week, Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said he opposes the site over concerns about adverse impacts on residents and businesses in the area. He also said putting the village in the south core will undermine city efforts to revitalize the area.

Powlowski said he will oppose any federal funding for the project if it's constructed on Miles Street.

The Fort William Business Improvement Area (BIA), meanwhile, was polling its membership last week to get their thoughts on the location. The BIA opposed the Miles Street site when council voted on it last fall.

Monday's resolution also included a provision which, if ratified, will see the city provide $125,000 in annual funding to the BIA for the duration of the shelter village project. The funding would go toward revitalization efforts, and addressing concerns relating to security and cleanliness.